Father's Gift, My Curse
by SlushoGlee
Summary: For years, Shippo had no idea that he'd been keeping a secret from his friends. So when he comes of age, his father's last gift will be given whether he wants it or not! What's worse, InuYasha is the only one around to see it, or is he? Long Since Aborted
1. Prologue Part 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha, I do believe he and company are Rumiko Takahashi's  
This fanfiction involes InuYasha/Shippo, but trust me its not yaoi, although they end up together...Its NOT YAOI!!**

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**Father's Gift, My Curse** _by: Oblivionosity_

Prologue (Part 1)

_I had always expected our adventures to come to an end sooner or later, but I never thought that they'd end the way they did. I remember when Kagome used to tell Shippo stories, which she called "furry tails" or something, from a book when it was about time for the group to get their rest. And in those stories there was always a happy ending, one where everyone was happy and united..._

_Kagome tried to tell me that our story was a great happy ending that deserved to be in a book of its own, but I could never believe her..._

_I thought our story was going to end up like one of, what she called, the "class-ick furry tail" endings. One in which the bad guy was defeated, the good guy won and got the girl, and all their friends were happy. But most of all, they all stayed together by the end of the book..._

--Flashback--

It was silent in the Feudal Era, almost calmly so. Few would believe it could be so peaceful after the many sounds that filled the vast forestry, only hours before. The sky's complexion was the softest shades of orange and red, a sign many had acknowledge as sunrise and early morning.

The silence was as nature intended it to be, neither too powerful nor to weak. However, for a small group of five travelers settled deep within the wooded environment, the silence only brought anticipation as its morning present. A pleasant breeze wandered through the trees and embraced the warrior's spent and aching bodies, almost as though it was trying to soothe away the tension they all held.

Amidst her fellow companions, the young priestess Kagome stood. Her eyes filled with compassion momentarily as she gazed over the ones that risked their lives to bring peace to their entire world.

In her hands she held two halves of a purple jewel, many had come to know as the Shikon no Tama, the Jewel of Four Souls, and the very thing that had caused all of their troubles. Everyone watched and knew without a second guess what was coming next. The young miko inhaled deeply to calm herself as she closed her eyes and placed her palms together, as if she were in prayer.

Time seemed suspended in mid-air as the group of friends waited for a response to come from the jewel or the girl. Then, a gentle purple glow emitted from the girl's hands and encased the whole forest before it shot a straight beam into the sky.

The Shikon jewel had been made whole once more.

Looking up from her cupped hands as the aura faded back in the jewel, Kagome's eyes wandered over the group before she smiled softly and declared, "It's done...It's over." Her eyes continued to scan over the group, watching and waiting for someone to break the tension that was quickly returning. No sooner than she had silently pleaded for someone to speak, the youngest and smallest of their pack spoke up, "So what are you going to do with it Kagome?"

"Don't be stupid Shippo," cut in a rather calm InuYasha, "She's going to protect it here with us."

The silence began to descend upon them once more, until Miroku spoke up, "Wait! So this whole time we were going to get the Shikon no Tama...just to protect it?!"

A sigh flew from the second girl of their group, "Miroku don't play dumb, we all knew that Kagome would end up being the one to protect it, did you think that we were going to use it?', it was a rather scratched up and dirty demon hunter, Sango.

"Yeah monk! Since none of us are planning on doing anything with it, its Kagome's job to protect it!" snapped InuYasha impatiently.

Miroku sighed heavily as he moved to sit on the earth below him, his body almost demanding it as he closed his sore eyes and spoke carefully, "All I'm trying to say is. We all assumed either different or similar things about what Kagome should do with the jewel, but none of us have taken the time to consider what she wants to do with it."

Once he had finished explaining what his previous words were about, he opened his violet eyes and rested them on the priestess, an action that was soon mirrored by his comrades. "Well Kagome?" asked the hanyou sternly, a frown placed traditionally upon his features, "What did you plan about it?"

Her voice seemed to be lost, as though the words she wished to speak were clear in mind, but the physical manifestation wouldn't leave her mouth.

It seemed to take her a moment, before she composed herself and found her voice in the process. Once she spoke, her voice was filled with unknown authority and resolution.

"I've actually thought a lot about what we-, I mean I, was going to do with the Shikon jewel once it was finished." she began, her eyes slowly lowering to the floor as she spoke, "I know that wishing on it would send me back home, away from all of the friends I've made in this time,b-but...I also know th-..that if I wished on the jewel."

Gods, how was she going to say this without crying, tears were already pooling behind her eyes, but she had to be strong and tell them her logic. "That it would ensure the safety of my friends, be-...because no one would try to attack us...I mean you guys, for something that no longer exists r-r..right?"

"What are you saying Kagome?" voiced the small kitsune who emerald eyes were glistening with fresh tears. Thoughts were swirling in Shippo's mind and he hated to have to feel them. _'She-she's planning on leaving us...Th-that's not fair! She can't just do this to us, we need her! I need her, and InuYasha needs her! How can she be so selfish!'_

"What I'm saying Sh-..ship...-po...is that," she began, tears forgetting to dare to fall as they slid down her cheeks as she spoke to the fox demon she had come to consider a little brother, "I'm going to leave. I'm going to go back to my time, where I belong and then when I feel strong enough...I'll make a wish."

--Flashback End--

_It was then. _

_Right then and there that I told myself that I needed to hate her. Hate her for believing that we meant too much for her to lose, so she decided to protect us. Were we not strong enough to defend ourselves against pathetic demon who would want the jewel? _

_Did she forget that we had completely destroyed Naraku!? _

_And his incarnations?! _

_I had to hate her because she had made this choice without us and wouldn't change her mind no matter what we said or did. Hate her for being so kind to all of us. _

_Hate her for saying that we were her best and truest friends._

_But most of all, I had to hate her because she made me care for her, like I never would have for anyone else._

_She had stayed with us for a few days before the day she said, was the day that she could let go of us. The inner demon half of me wanted her gone the moment she sprang her proposal on us at the final battle site. _

_It was natural youkai instinct, and my demon side knew that if a potential "mate" refused to be with me, then there was no further purpose for the female to be around.I wanted so badly to side with this part of my being, but my human side wouldn't allow it. Even though my demon half was saying to ditch the girl since she refused me, my human mirror still held onto Kago-...her as a dear friend. I...almost said her name..._

_Grrr...whatever, anyway. I 'found out' from Miroku, Sango, and Shippo that she had left and that she seemed disappointed that she didn't get to say goodbye to me. _

_Feh! I knew she was leaving already! I didn't want to see her go or give her the pleasure of any form of closure, but I couldn't let the others know of my prior knowledge. She didn't deserve closure as far as I was concerned anymore. I knew who my real friends were...or so I thought._

_It had been no more than a week since the priestess's leave that Miroku and Sango expressed that they were going to head back to her old village to start a family together. _

_I tried to be happy for them, I really did. But the same youkai part of me felt like my pack was leaving me to fend for myself. It was as though none of the humans understood my inner pack mentality, we were supposed to stay together. At least I still had Shippo, for a few more months anyway. _

_Yeah...he left eventually, but he waited longer than the monk and the demon slayer, so I wasn't as angry with him when he told me. He said that his inner demon was telling him to leave, to get away from me. That's what hurt the most. The fact that his instinct was telling him to go, just like the others. _

_I almost asked him what was wrong with me, why everyone was leaving me, but he already started explaining himself further.He said it wasn't me, but at the same time it was. He said that his gut was telling him something was about to happen in his life, something big. Unfortunately I wouldn't be there to witness it._

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**Whew! Okay so that's part one of the two part prologue. What!? I know! But don't worry, the second half is probably going to be short and will lead into Chapter 1.**

**Let me know how I'm doing, this is my first fanfiction ever to be typed out, so give me feedback!! Am I in character? Am I rambling? What did you like/dislike? Spelling/Grammar errors? Interested in more?**


	2. A Bit Before, Before Now

Prologue (Part 2)

--Four Months Later--

_Many moons had passed since every single one of my friends had departed. As much as I tried to use my time and energy to hate them for deserting me, I could never entertain the thought of doing so for more than a few seconds. It wasn't as though it had stopped hurting, the fact that they left. _

_I guess I just felt too hollow to truly be concerned with it any longer.At least I still had Kaede. She never ceased to amaze me, the old woman. The sheer fact that she was still living was miracle enough. But it was the simple knowledge that she knew how to be bluntly optimistic about anything and everything I would say negatively to her. _

_The old bag became my light in a way, something that could keep me happy, even when I didn't want to crack a smile. There was one thing that we both agreed on however, and that was that life had slowed down far more than we were used to. The casual demon attack upon the village had stopped completely. _

_To remedy all the spare time she had at her advanced age, later that night the old woman's body decided that it had enough. And what a night to die on of all nights. _

_The night of the new moon. _

_I hated these nights because they made me more than just physically weak, or at least, that's what my youkai half would argue. And that night was no exception. _

_The sound of something or someone hitting the floor had woken me from the room I was given to sleep in. I walked out expecting...something...anything other than what I'd seen, but there was no mistaking what had happened, even in human form. Kaede was laying face down on the wooden floor, and a bowl of rice had slipped from her grasp. _

_My heart knew before I could actually confirm it, she was gone, almost just like the others. When the villagers had arrived after I asked them to come, I almost expected them to blame me, but they didn't. They agreed to bury her for me, I guess they saw how out of it I was and determined that I couldn't do it myself. I don't know, maybe I could have done it back when we were fighting Yura of the Hair, but not now, she had grown on me. _

_They gave her the best burial I had ever witnessed, especially for one at such short notice and at night for that matter. I paid my respects and then I left. There was no way I could stay at Kaede's hut without her there anymore. I promised her that I would watch over the village, but I wouldn't go in there ever again. _

_The remainder of that night, I spent in the forest, despite my human vulnerabilities. I didn't care, I was too numb to feel anything. Everyone I had ever had that mattered to me was gone, Kagome, Shippo, Miroku, Sango, and Kaede all had left one way or another and I was left here, alone. All that I had left and didn't really care about was Kouga and Sesshoumaru, and there was no way I was lonely enough to go to them with my tail between my legs. Why had I allowed those emotions in the first place? _

_Emotions had been what had caused everything wrong in my life, from Naraku deceiving me and Kikyo to this horrible feeling in my heart now. _

_The moon glided through the dark sky elegantly and my body began to tingle. _

_My first thought had been, that I was changing back, but no...that couldn't be it. The sun wouldn't be rising for hours, so what was happening? _

_Was...was I...dying? _

_No...death couldn't feel the way I had started feeling. _

_I felt amazing, like I was stronger and probably faster than I had ever been in my entire life. _

_I could sense, almost feel everything and everyone around me. From the owls in the trees to the surrounding demons miles away. _

_Sight and hearing, that even as a hanyou, had been muffled and distorted, was crisp and clear. There was no mistaking it, even as I moved from the tree trunk I occupied and looked into the dark pond ahead of me. _

_I was a full fledged demon. _

_And all I could think of was, "Why did she wish for this?"_

Chapter 1

--Present--

"That had been five months and three years ago," muttered the full demon InuYasha to himself as he wandered carelessly through the forest that had been, now affectionately, called InuYasha's Forest.

Three years hadn't changed the former hanyou much appearance wise and anyone he knew previously would only be shocked to know that the youkai standing before them was InuYasha because his ears and wardrobe had changed.

Once soft and daresay, adorable, puppy dog ears that used to adorn his head, vanished and were replaced with pointed ears of a full demon. The vibrant red color of his fur of the Fire Rat was dyed to blue with berry juice. As a youkai, colors had become more pronounced and thus, red became a little too bright for the demon's liking.

Sighing heavily as he continued to venture through his territory, the dog youkai tried to suppress thoughts of the past. 'Its not like I really have much of a future to look forward to anyway,' he thought bitterly to himself as he began to head back to the village.

Saying that nothing had changed was entirely true of course. As a full demon, InuYasha had the new privilege to take territory, an act that a hanyou wouldn't even dream of attempting.

Life should have been great, but it couldn't be that great with no one to share it with.

He stayed at the village, since the villagers accepted his presence and it didn't hurt to have a powerful youkai to look after you in the event of an attack. He quickly and easily dispatched minor demons that attacked the livestock and the people were impressed and grateful.

They were so appreciative, that they had built him a home, that was away from the village, but not far enough that InuYasha wouldn't be able to hear them call for him. They even located it near the forest with a hot spring in back of it!

InuYasha accepted their gifts without protest, who was he to refuse food?

The food was great, especially since they knew that he had no real experience with preparing food, they prepared it before they gave it to him.

It had smelled amazing!

Almost amazing as...as _that _smell...

InuYasha stopped where he stood with a scowl firmly place upon his features as he sniffed at the air. What was that? It had smelled like nothing he had ever experienced before and something within him said that it was something good.

It sent his blood racing and filled him with life that he had long forgotten.

Almost instinctively, he took off at a quick pace, heading towards the scent that he intoxicated him. He felt weak and powerful at the same time, and as odd as it felt to the youkai, he knew that it was his nature to feel this way.

The aroma was only a few yards away, when InuYasha realized two things. One was that the scent was coming from his hot springs near his home and two, the scent evaporated. Just like that, as InuYasha stood in a tree branch a mile away from his destination, the enticing fragrance had seized.

However, as soon as these facts came into play, another was shown to the dog demon. "That scent is gone, but there's a demon in my property!" he growled out a he picked up his speed to reach the fool that decided to trespass in his land, which ultimately resulted in death or severe injury.

The hot spring's steam was now clearly in sight, and the idiot demon could be made out through the fog. Landing with a soft thud before the simmering water, InuYasha moved slowly to the edge of the spring, over to the form that had risen from underwater with a smooth sigh.

"You know, most demons think about who's territory their in before that start soaking in someone's hot spring," he spoke calmly to the demon as he moved to snatch the idiot by his throat. The demon evaded his grasp and moved further into the water, submerging his body up to his neck.

InuYasha growled angrily as he stopped himself from moving into the water after the demon. _'Hell no, I'm not about to get my clothes wet for this damn idiot, he's got no where to go but out!'_ he thought to himself with with a smirk as he began to remove his hitoe.

He could barely make anything out through the steam, apart from the shadow of the demon in the water. Placing the hitoe in his hands he began to fan away the steam, almost laughing to himself as the demon's face came into view.

The first he could see was arms wrapped around his chest, next was a lower lip that was being bitten fearfully, followed by pointed ears, emerald eyes, and long ginger hair that floated along the surface of the water.

InuYasha was taken a back, the guy looked almost like...a girl, but there was no scent of a female present, the scent that he smelled previously was no doubt female.And it vexed InuYasha as to why it had captured him, he had smelled other females before, but none had a scent like hers.

Of course the smell from before could have belonged to the same demon he had cornered, possibly using soaps and shampoos to make him smell so femininely for that brief moment. That was one of the impacts Kagome had upon the village, showing them her futuristic items, the people learned to make their own feudal versions of soap and shampoo.

Emerald eyes stared intently into golden as they watched each other, both interested in who the other was. It was the invader, who spoke up first, "Who-," he began softly, before coughing and deepening his voice as he continued nervously, "Who are you?"

InuYasha frowned before crossing his arms as he replied, his eyes half open in annoyance, "I'll let the demon in my territory do the answering...Who are you and what are you doing in my land?"

The silver haired dog youkai watched as the smaller demon in the water began to contemplate what he was going to say before he said it. Sighing softly, as his green eyes lifted to settle back upon the golden eyes that probed him, he stuttered out words that InuYasha hadn't expected to hear. "I..I needed to t-ake a bath...I'm so-..sorry for intruding, I-..I didn't know...M-..my...name is..Shh-Shippo.."

Shippo?! No! No it could be. Shippo was a small kitsune, not the young man he briefly mistook for a woman! There was no way Shippo had just managed to show up out of no where, in his land of all places. But, there was no denying it, the demon he was looking at was Shippo the fox youkai. 'He's grown...but... I know that I would have recognized him,' he thought to himself, an frown signaling his thoughts, ' If he wasn't naked in a hot springs that is. How come he doesn't remember me?'

He had changed in ways InuYasha never would or could have imagined. He was clearly bigger than the pint size demon he knew. His face held much of his child-like features, but also added a feminine touch to his overall look. His hair had grow long, and InuYasha was briefly reminded of Kagome, when he was caught spying on her. Shaking the thought from him physically, his eyes wandered back to his old friend. "Do you...know who I am?" he asked inwardly, as he looked away, unsure of his response.

Sensing the silver haired demon's inner distress, the kitsune moved through the water slowly, hands still covering his chest, as he looked over the demon that was so familiar. "Inu...Yasha?" he asked shyly as he squinted to get a better view of the demon that was being shrouded in the returning fog.

InuYasha felt a flurry of emotions as his past friend questioned his identity. He was glad that he remembered him, but he was angry that there was the slightest hint of doubt in his reply. "So you remembering the name of the man you ditched three years ago," he said almost deathly calm as his gaze bore into the green eyes that searched him, "You remember the person that saved your ass countless times and helped you avenge your father? The person that watched as everyone he cared about leave or die off?"

Shippo stayed silent as his fellow demon continued to vent his feelings upon him. InuYasha deserved to. Everyone left as though the hanyou was strong enough to take it. He left without so much as a good explanation as to why he had to leave.

But how could he explain why he left, it was hard enough to understand without the blunt dog demon there to question him. Nonetheless, it was still wrong to shut him out so suddenly. "In-..InuYasha I'm sorry you had to deal with everyone abandoning you," he sympathized to the silver-haired dog demon, "But I can't apologize for leaving."

"Why not!" Inuyasha fumed as he began to pace back and forth, "Why can't you give me what I'm owed?! You owe me an apology for deserting me like that! After you knew it hurt to watch the others leave! How could you do that to me!?"

Shippo prepared to stand to counter the demon's words, but planted himself in the water quickly, "It was never about you InuYasha!," he yelled as tears began to form in his emerald colored eyes, "I had to deal with something on my own! Fine! You want me to say it? I'm sorry for leaving! There! I really am! But I'm back now, so can't we just...just get along again?"

Smelling the fresh tears upon his friend's face, InuYasha instantly felt bad for his angry explosion. "Yeah...we can get along" he said avoiding the hurt look the kitsune had, knowing what he'd have to say next, "I'm...I'm s-..sorry. I really missed you kid." Looking to the ginger fox demon, he smiled a bit, his own eyes shimmering briefly with tears he had to fight back.He moved to the edge of the hot spring and sat in front of Shippo as he sighed away his past emotions, "So...you've changed a lot."

Shippo laughed nervously to himself, _'You have no idea,'_ he thought before smiling to the hanyou. Wait...his ears were gone? Shippo's eyes filled with a sudden facination as his eyes glanced at his friend. His ears were pointed, his face had two purple stripes, and two stripes were placed on each of his wrists. "You...your a full demon? But how?" he asked, knowing the answer already. It had to have been the Shikon no Tama.

It had been a few hours as InuYasha explained his life over the past three years. The sun was setting, and as it naturally did, the area was beginning to get dark. The whole time Shippo had stayed in the hot spring, listening to his former guardian intently, his arms still held firmly to his chest. When he expressed a desire to get out and continue their conversation else where, the full demon declined his request.

"Just stay there," the golden eyed youkai replied as he moved from his spot towards his hut, ultimately vanishing in the woods before him. It had been a few minutes when InuYasha returned with a small lit candle in his hand. Holding it to a small post near the spring, the flame spread to the pole, which spread along strings that set off a chain of flames to other poles.

Shippo's eyes darted to the newly lit poles, he hadn't known there were there, and if he knew, he still wouldn't know what they were used for. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, the new setting was...romantic in a way. The ginger headed kitsune was about to object, saying that he was going to get too pruny, when InuYasha's voice cut it.

"I needed to take a bath anyway, and its been a while since I could hang out with someone while I soaked," he explained to his younger friend, whose eyes qucikly averted once they noticed that the older was stripped down to nothing. The gaze had not gone unnoticed, and it caused the dog demon to smirk with an arched eyebrow at the blushing fox. "What are you embarrassed about Shippo? Me and Miroku used to hang out in hot springs all the time." he stated as he stepped down into the warmth that soon encased his body.

A pleasing groan escaping him as he placed his arms on either side of him, opening his eyes as he continued to speak, "Besides...its not like you have anything I don't already have myself."

Shippo let out a forced laugh as he looked to his submerged friend. "Umm InuYasha...I would really like to stay and chat, but do you mind if I get out?" he asked his friend who looked at him disappointed with the thought that his friend was leaving already, "I mean...I'm kind of done with my bath and...I could...uh... start dinner or something before we go to sleep, if its okay that I stay with you...I mean stay at your house."

InuYasha smiled at his bumbling friend before sighing in content, "Sure...you can stay. I mean, the hut is only is a large room with a fire pit. I've got a couple of futons and the hut is big enough for two people to use." Looking to Shippo, waiting for him to get out or say something, InuYasha spoke first, "What?"

"Uh...do you think you could um...look away or something?" he asked his friend that merely smirked at him with a questioning and entertained look upon his face. Shippo growled at the humilation that started to filter its way into his body, "I'm shy, okay!"

"Whatever you say kid," Inuyasha retorted happily as he closed his eyes until he heard the sound of his friend splash quickly out of the water and run towards the hut. Once he was away from the watchful eye of Inuyasha, Shippo sighed and began to dress quickly as possible. He smiled to himself, almost proud that he had made the wise decision to purchase the clothing he did. It helped his situation appear less like...a situation.

The rest of the night had gone smoothly as it possibly could have been. InuYasha was happy that Shippo had found the food so easily and managed to cook it quite well. The stew had settled in their stomaches and the combination of food, a warm bath and a cozy room, had caused the pair to grow tired.

A grumbled goodnight was said and the fire was put out as the demons quicly fell asleep. The day had been a prefect one, and the night looked like it wasn't going to be that bad either.

Until they were in a deep sleep.

Somewhere during the night, InuYasha's subconcious was unsettled, like something was keeping his inner mind from finding peace. The former hanyou crawled in his sleep around the hut, until he found where his peace was.

InuYasha dropped on his side and wrapped his arms possively around the form next to him, a growl emitting from his lips as he nuzzled into long sweet smelling hair as his inner demon finally fell to sleep as well.

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**So I'm done with the first chapter. How was it? Good/Bad? Anything positive or negative to say? I can't wait to post their reactions when they wake up the next morning!!.**

Japanese Words That Might Show Up:  
hitoe-jacket  
hakama-pants  
kosode-shirt  
obe-belt


	3. The Flea That Leads to Flight

Chapter 2

There they were.

The two that went through so much strife together.

Countless battles and near endless heartache.

Nonetheless, the two had found each other once more and slept together, one in the other's arms.

_"Kagome,"_ the dog youkai whispered almost inaudibly as he pulled the girl towards him, her hands gently resting on top of his clothed chest. Her forehand rested under the silver-haired man's chin as she breathed out, _"InuYasha."_

He moaned softly from the slightest touch of her breathe on his neck, as he held her tighter, his hand resting firmly on her back, in between her shoulder blades.

_"Whe-..Where's the boy?"_ he muttered out his question cautiously, referring to Shippo, as he slide himself away from the top of her head so he could capture her lips for the first time while he had the chance.

Who cared where Shippo was, Kagome was back and she was finally with him. Nothing and no one else matter. He had the one he needed to be with to be happy. _"He's gone," _she sighed out, about to speak further until firm lips descended upon hers.

Gasping at the upfront and bold action, his tongue took advantage of her surprise and claimed the warmth of her mouth, causing her to moan at the sensations. She was as sweet as he imagined her to be and two of her front teeth were surprisingly sharp, but it only made their kiss better.

InuYasha growled out his satisfaction as his hand began to travel downward to pull her closer to himself. Brushing briefly past her tail, he planted his hand on her backside and slid her closer to his lower body.

She placed her leg between to keep distance between them, but it only made InuYasha groan at the movement.

Holding her rear tightly, he pulled her body closer as her tail batted softly on his hand. Kissing her once more he-..._'Tail? Kagome doesn't have a tai-..' _he thought to himself as his eyes shot open to see a sleeping kitsune very very close to him.

Shaking his head briefly, he stayed still as possible, hoping silently to himself that he hadn't just done what he thought he did with his younger male friend and that said friend would stay asleep when the dog demon pulled his body and his lips away from him.

Movingly slowly, his first priority was removing his lips, the overall worst thing about what had happened between them.

Just as his lips disconnected from the fox demon's, green eyes slid open and stared deep into golden, "InuYasha?" he asked nervously as his eyes wandered over their current positions.

"Gahhhh!" InuYasha screamed out in disgust as he sat up quickly, the blankets that wrapped around their bodies effectively dragging Shippo into the former hanyou's lap. Blushing as red as his Fire Rat fur used to be, he shoved an equally embarrassed Shippo off of him.

Shippo landed with a soft thud as he flinched and held his chest quickly before tightening his first at his sides, "Ouch! What did you do that for!"

"You-..you sta-..started it!" the angry dog demon bellowed out, standing up suddenly as he pointed to the younger demon.

"What? Started what?" he asked nervously as he looked around trying to find out what had happened.

"Yo-..you slept near me and made me think you were Kagome!" he snarled as he inched his way to Shippo and yelled in his face. The entire time Shippo was glancing about the room, before finally landing his eyes back on upset golden ones.

"InuYasha...you're on my side of the room." he said calmly watching as the man took in his surroundings as he spoke again, "So...what happened? I woke up and you were sleeping like...right next to me."

"If you don't remember, then it doesn't need to be brought up again," InuYasha mumbled out as he plopped back down on the wooden floor, still further away from the kitsune.

"It had to be something pretty important if slept so close and freaked out the way you did," he stated as he crossed his arms, smirking widely as he went on, "I'm guessing you and Miroku didn't sleep like that, right?"

"Of course not, you idiot!" he spat back, suddenly angry that the fool was pestering him about their event that he didn't even remember, and one that InuYasha was trying desperately to forget. "You want to know what happened, huh? I thought you were Kagome and I kissed you, ya happy now?

Inside Shippo was reeling with thoughts, but he simply shrugged it off physically and stood up, dusting off clothes as he yawned out, "It's no big deal...Not like either of us meant anything by it...we were sleeping...you hungry?" Looking to the older demon, Shippo sighed in frustration as he stormed out of the hut to search for breakfast foods.

He was just sitting their like he didn't even care that he was talking to him. Probably to busy thinking about...what happened.." he thought to himself as he began to pick a few berries in his right hand, as his left was closed tightly.

"It was nothing. Just an accident that's all." he said to himself as he paused to place the produce in a small basket he made out of his kitsune magic.

He was gone for hours, and thus, he had ventured further into the forest as an effect. The sun was already high in the sky and it was getting hot very quickly. Sweating lightly, Shippo stopped at a small river to rinse his face and get a drink before heading back with the food.

The water was cool to the touch and the heated woods did little to help Shippo's search go any better. Sighing to himself as he removed a furred foot from the cool flow, he decided a quickly dip wouldn't hurt anyone.

Glancing around cautiously, Shippo removed his upper top to reveal a tight white wrap around his chest. Grabbing the tie that held his chest down, he quickly removed it and covered his protruding chest with his left arm as he removed the rest of his clothes and slipped into the water. _'Its a good thing InuYasha didn't do more than kiss me...he'd have noticed a couple of things that wouldn't necessarily make me the boy he knew back when we were fighting Naraku.'_

Relaxing as best he could, Shippo gathered up his clothes and dressed as quickly as possible and began to head back to the demon that was likely stil upset and humiliated.

"A beautiful demoness like you probably tastes delicious" a small voice muttered as a painful, yet tiny prick came from Shippo's neck.

Slapping the spot, already irritated at being called a female, the red head's eyes narrowed at the sight of the flea. "What do you want Myoga?"

"You...you know my name miss?" the flea asked cautiously as he inflated back from his flattened state.

"Ugh...of course I know you, you old fool!" Shippo growled out as he rolled his eyes, "I'm Shippo! The little fox demon!"

"Shippo?" the flea youkai repeated, almost as though the words would change what he had learned, "But your blood tasted like that of a female..."

"Well maybe your tongue is off, because I'm a guy," he stated matter-of-factly, "Always have been!"

Myoga pondered his new statement further, before jumping to the closed fist of the formerly small kit.

Landed on the hand quickly, he sunk his sucker into the flesh as Shippo flinched at the invasion, and unclosed his hand. As soon as his fist was opened, a scent radiated briefly from his body, until the kitsune regained his barrings and shut his hand again.

Shippo growled at the wise, yet cowardly demon. He made him reveal his secret, but Shippo wouldn't go so far as to tell the flea what he already knew to be true.

"Just like I thought." the flea youkai sighed as his beady eyes looked up into green eyes that averted his gaze. "You are a female youkai Shippo, and that is what you always have been."

Shippo's gaze dropped back to the minuscule elder as she sighed out her despair and spoke softly, in a voice that was far more delicate than the front she had been using. "I know. What am I going to do?" she asked quietly as she sunk to the floor beneath her.

"We cannot keep this revelation from Master InuYasha," he stated firmly as he paced back and forth in the demoness's palm, doing his best to formulate a plan.

"I'm not telling InuYasha and you can't either!" Shippo shouted out bringing her hand that held the youkai closer to her face.

"If we do not inform InuYasha of your true state, his demon instinct will discover your identity itself," he shot back, his hands in his hips, "And you won't like the way his natural intuition decides to discover it!"

Shippo blushed pink at the thought of InuYasha's instinct using a method of discovering that she was indeed all female. And if it was the method she thought it was, Shippo definitely wasn't going to like it. "So...what am I supposed to do?"

"I won't say anything to him. You either tell Lord InuYasha yourself or you leave and hope he doesn't search for you Shippo." the demon declared finally as he hopped off of the demoness's hand and headed towards his master's hut.

Shippo had no choice. She couldn't tell InuYasha the truth. So she choice to flee as far and as fast as she could. Hoping to get away from the demon that would indefinitely come looking for his male friend that disappeared.

* * *

**Cliffhanger! Hahaha..Anyway, it probably wasn't as much of a surprise as it should have been, but the explanation will be fun!**


	4. Thoughts and The Village with a Canine

Chapter 3

Running from a full fledged dog demon was harder than one would imagine it to be.

If they came after you they'd pick up on every scent trail you left them, and if they got close enough they'd obviously see and hear you. Not to mention the demonic aura you would emit, being a fox youkai and all.

Shippo had managing to find an easy way to rid herself of her scent trail by finding a conveniently placed river, that went on for many miles, on to the next town.

Having a head start against her male companion was a plus as well, as far as being spotted with advanced eye sight or heard by enhanced hearing that is.

The village that smelled not to close, but still yet ahead, was where she intended to go for now. There was no way she would return to InuYasha to explain herself. How much more awkward could their relationship get?

'Yeah, that'd go great', the former male sighed internally as she rolled her green eyes and continued in the cold lake, that felt rather good due to it being summer and all, 'I can see it now, "Hey InuYasha, It's me Shippo!! Guess What?? I'm a girl!"'

Giggling a bit at the scene that unfolded in her head, she shook the images away as she trudged through the water. InuYasha wouldn't understand what was going on. Heck, she didn't know what was going on either!

All she knew was that when she left InuYasha the first time, it was because her body was telling her to leave. A few weeks passed and then she woke up with a chest and nothing male between her legs anymore.

Better to have one person confused instead of two right? InuYasha was confused enough as it was with the whole night-time make out session they shared.

The demoness blushed as the thought of their two bodies close together, entwined underneath a blanket, and kissing passionately entered her mind. Shippo growled out in shock and disgust as she dismissed them just as quickly as they entered.

What was she getting all flustered about?

This was InuYasha she was thinking about!

InuYasha the jerk!

InuYasha the stubborn jerk!

InuYasha the insensitive stubborn jerk!!

InuYasha the..guy...jerk...

Well the point was made, InuYasha was a gu-..a jerk!

Besides, nothing would come from a relationship between the two of them.

InuYasha was practically Shippo's brother after all.

That wouldn't change just because she was suddenly a female, would it? No. Of course not!

And it wasn't as though the kitsune felt any new emotions for the dog demon. That would make her gay if she had those feelings anyway. Wouldn't it?

_'No it wouldn't you idiot, you're a girl stupid!,' _cut in another part of Shippo's mind as the kitsune tried to rationalize where her new found gender would take their relationship.

"No where, that's for sure!" she vocalized eternally as her soft red eyebrows furrowed together in frustration.

The only reason she had blushed at the thought of them doing...what they did...was because it was something very personal and needless to say, embarrassing as well.

There was no other reason for why she reacted the way she did, other than the conclusion she came up with!

Shippo was InuYasha's friend before and that wasn't about to change if she could help it. They would still play fight.

They would still get into arguments and InuYasha would still hit her on the head. Just like before.

InuYasha clearly still had feelings for Kagome. Not that these feelings matter to Shippo, cause they didn't.

The hanyou turned youkai loved the miko and besides, Shippo was still Shippo!

A gender switch was not about to change their friendship. Didn't she tell herself this already?

The vixen laughed at her raging mind absently as she stopped in the moving waters. Why was she so worried about InuYasha and herself?

She wasn't about to see him anytime soon.

Emerald eyes blinked dumbfounded as they settled on various faces that were gazing back at her with cautious and suspicious eyes.

_'I'm at the village...,'_ she thought to herself, smiling awkwardly to the people as she emerged out of the knee-high water.

Sighing as she mentally slapped herself, the vixen remembered that she could have simply masked her scent like she had done around InuYasha and Myoga.

Actually, thanks to Myoga's bite, the fox could no longer hold the energy in her left hand for now. Not that she really wanted to hide it anymore. She was a she and if she smelled like a girl, then why hide it? It was an interesting ability as it were.

It was a kitsune trick she discovered shortly after her change. By focusing an energy, similar to the one she used to change into different forms, she could remove her alluring female scent, and in a way, place it in a closed hand.

The technique was discovered a few days after "the event", when two horny toad demon, horny in both senses of the word, came and stated that they were going to "claim" her. The blue toad began to argue with the, sadly more attractive, red-ish green one about who would be her mate.

Balling up her fists angrily, intending to yell at them and then change form before departing, the kitsune felt an energy remove an "outer skin" of sorts.The males sniffed at her, soon getting confused and angry assuming Shippo was a male, trying to play a trick on them with a scent. Thankfully the two left without further pestering.

Unfortunately, that trick couldn't mask her aura, which oddly stayed pretty much the same after her transformation, and was how InuYasha found her in the springs.

The first thing she noticed about these villagers was that there was no fear in their eyes, which usually meant they already had a demon living with them or in the area.

Most of the people glanced at her and quickly went back to their work, in fact all of them resumed their prior routine, except for one person in particular.

It was a young male demon.

A dog demon to be more exact.

"So you finally decided to show up didn't you?"

* * *

**Small chapter! Sigh, anyway...I couldn't resist the potential for another cliffhanger! Where did Shippo go? Did she really end up walking all the way back to Kaede's village? How slow could she be!? Hahaha...wait and see!  
Chapter 4 is already being written, you'll have to wait!  
**


	5. New Guy, Looks, Emotions and a Blackout

Chapter 4

His voice was that of underlying confidence, arrogance, and worst of all mild amusement.

_'Sheesh you'd think this guy was related to InuYasha,'_ Shippo thought with a roll of her eyes.

He stared at the fox demon with more than casual interest as he moved closer to speak without raising his voice.

A voice similar to the rivaling wolf and dog she knew, "So you're the one that my master has been waiting for."

Frowning at his words, the kitsune crossed her arms over her chest and scanned the demon in front of her with a gaze that was without a doubt scrutinizing.

There was no doubt about it. The man was a demon. From the pointed ears, the demonic aura, and the gentle, but nonetheless, fanged smile, it would be foolish to think he was otherwise.

He was taller than she was, a fact that slight bothered the vixen. Everyone was taller than her back when she was a child, and even now as a young matured woman, people still stood higher.

Oh well, there were plenty who were shorter than her now.

Measuring him up again, she concluded that the demon was only slightly taller than InuYasha, but shorter than Kouga.

Light brown hair that was short and spiky was held up by a blue tie graced the male's tanned skinned features.

His hair also happened to match the youkai tail protruding from the back of his clothing, which come to think of it were slightly odd.

He wore a top similar to InuYasha's, but it only had one sleeve for his left arm and it continued down to a right pant leg and only part of his left.

The right side of his chest and upper shoulder were cover by a tight material similar to Sango's demon hunter garbs and the same material ran down to his left knee.

His chest as a whole was then covered by a breastplate similar to that of the wolf tribes' and a sash completed his different wardrobe.

Due to his clothing choice, Shippo mentally noted that the muscles he displayed in his exposed arms and legs were not just for show and most likely were the same for the clothed portion of his body.

If this demon and his "master" had any ill-intentions for her, Shippo knew that the canine before her would be trouble enough.

Opening her mouth to speak, she glared at the male as he cut her off with his own words, "There's no need to be suspicious of me or my master," he said more kindly, clearly seeing her weary expression.

Clearing his throat to be formal and no doubt, to clear the previously blunt way he spoke, he introduced himself, "My name is Ryouken. Master Senpai has been awaiting the time you two would meet, Shippo."

"How do you know my name!?" she shouted angrily, gaining a few startled looks from those that happened to pass by.

"I only know what Master Senpai has told me about you," he replied steadily, his silver eyes showing no deception in them, "He told me to tell you, once you arrived that is, that he can inform you about why you are...the way you are."

Sighing in frustration and acceptance, Shippo grudgingly agreed to go with the demon to meet his master, who somehow knew so much about her.

What the heck could it hurt? The kitsune needed to find out why she was a she and if someone popped up out of no where claiming to have answers, who was she to refuse them?

Besides, once she was there and assured herself that she wasn't in any danger, maybe she could ask them if she could spend the night.

* * *

Minutes was the only time that passed as they headed to the center of the large village, where Ryouken and his master, Senpai's home was located. In that time Shippo had learned a great deal about the young demon who escorted her.

Ryouken, or Ryo as he insisted on being called, was a coyote demon, which was why he smelled like a dog demon Shippo noted to herself.

He was raised by Senpai, a fox demon like herself, after his mother and father were slaughtered and he had lived with the old kitsune ever since.

Shippo's former guard had dissolved at learning of their slightly similar pasts, both having been left alone after their parents untimely end and both ending up being taken in one way or another.

Seconds passed as silence encased them again as they made their way to his home. Shippo would occasionally catch Ryo looking at her with almost InuYasha-like interest.

The kind of interest that was usually directed at Kagome. The I'm-looking-at-you-but-I-don't-want-you-to-know-I-am kind of interest. Blushing a bit at the knowledge of this male's gaze, Shippo prepared herself to ask him about it when his cautious and amused voice cut in yet again.

"I never would have suspected that you were...you know...," he stated bravely as he shrugged at the last part of his sentence, hoping Shippo would get the missing words.

"What?" she asked quizzically, not knowing what the blank in Ryo's words was.

Looking to her briefly in another InuYasha-like fashion, he almost couldn't believe she didn't get it.

He laughed a bit, shaking his head as his eyes stayed forward as he explained, "A guy. I could never picture you as a male before. Your too pretty."

"Thanks...I guess?" she said in more than just a whisper as the blush from before crept its way onto her face yet again.

He wasn't...flirting...with her, was he? Nah! No way! It was just a compliment right?

"Ah yes! A very pretty lady needs very pretty clothing! Come! Come see!" a ragged voice called out to them as a hand soon wrapped around Shippo's bicep in a firm, yet olden grip and pulled her towards a rather large booth with tons of fabrics behind it.

"Thanks, but I-" she began to protest as the woman quickly drapped different textured and colored fabrics on her, thus stifling the vixen for a few seconds, "I don't have any money!"

"You? Don't? No money dear?" the woman said fearfully as she stripped her of the new clothing just as fast as she had put it on.

"Oh don't worry about it, I'll pay!" Ryo said with a wink to the nervous kitsune who quickly looked in another direction, in hopes of not getting the same blush as before.

Seeing her shy reaction to his simple actions, he smirked to himself and decided to take it a step further, "Besides I like those two colors on you."

Flushing at his bold statement, Shippo pulled the fabric up close to her cheeks and pretended to be examining the texture up close.

"Oh no dear, you don't wear it like that!" the old woman protested grabbing the cloth from her, taking it away with some hesitation on the vixen's end.

Straightening out the cloth, the woman revealed that it was actually a sleeve and half of a top. Frowning at the style, Shippo began to voice her concerns when she was cut off for probably the fifth time that day.

"You wear it with another part of another color" the woman explained nodding quickly, her beady eyes staying on the kitsune, hoping to make a sale.

"You tie the first half and put your arm in the sleeve and then drape the other over it and tie it just like the other. But you first put on an under shirt and pants to complete the ensemble."

"You're going to have to help me, cause I have no idea on how it works," Shippo said with mild bewilderment as the woman pulled her into a back room. Shippo gave one cautious glance back at Ryo, who merely smiled and waved her goodbye.

Shippo stripped down to her bare minimum clothing which consisted of a wrap for her chest and small shorts for the lower portion of her body.

The woman went to work quickly and easily, pulling on a white top similar to that of Kikyo's and same colored bottoms and tying them up with precision. Then she slipped the sleeve up over the white sleeve and began to explain how to tie it.

"You take these two ties near the waist area and you pull it to the other side of your body and then wrap it around back to the other side and tie it," she demonstrated as she pulled the straps to her left side and then tied it back on the side with the sleeve.

After figured out how to do the other different colored half, Shippo scanned herself in a long mirror that was provided to her.

Seeing her outfit now, it actually looked quite nice. Really nice actually.

The light blue half of her top meshed well with the soft orange other side and both really looked great with the white under top and bottom. The two halves trailed down just to her hips and the ends were pointed slightly and hugged her form well.

'I actually look like a girl now' she thought to herself with a small smile as her eyes wandered over her hair, 'I should change that, its still too recognizable'

Asking the elderly lady for a brush, Shippo noticed a brown wrap and grabbed it up. If that added to her expenses, she knew Ryo would end up paying for it.

After countless different styles, the vixen settled for a long bang in the front, to hide some of her "Shippo" features and the rest of her hair rested loosely in back of her while the brown headband just added to her appearance. Smiling at her self in the mirror, her fox tail swished gleefully behind her, and sighed as thoughts of her silver haired friend began to creep into her mind. Pushing them aside, she turned and went back out to the two that awaited her.

"You look great!" Ryo said with another dashing smile as his eyes took her in, as if to embed it into his memory.

"Yeah yeah...can we go see Senpai now?" she cut in rather harshly and soon regretted it when she saw the hurt in the male's eyes. She hadn't meant to be rude, but InuYasha wasn't easily forgotten, and the fact that she was too afraid to reveal herself to him was starting to feel like a curse.

"Yes of course we can." the brown headed coyote said crestfallen at her tone, "Just let me pay the lady.."

Was he being too foward or perhaps she just felt like he was postponing the knowledge she needed to receive? Whatever it was, Ryo knew that it was probably best to get her to Master Senpai like she asked.

* * *

Silence was never this painful in either of the demons' lives as they walked side by side, in complete...silence.

Both were ashamed of their behavior, but they each had entirely different reasons for why they felt the way they did.

The kitsune was upset with the fact that she crudely and bluntly rushed a nice moment between a man that had been genuinely kind and considerate to her.

And the coyote was down on himself because he felt like he rushed into being so kind and considerate to the vixen, when she barely knew him and probably thought he was distracting her from with she went with the youkai in the first place!

"We're here," he muttered tonelessly as he pushed past the door that led into a well-light entry hall. Leading the way, the coyote demon stayed silent like the rest of their walk to the house, and moved to motion Shippo into a large living room were two seats were left available, "He'll be with you shortly."

Shippo nodded, to disheveled to make eye contact with the one she had obviously hurt. She tried to say something, anything, but her throat felt like it had tightened and wouldn't allow her to breathe. A tear swam down the kitsune's cheek slowly and was quickly wisked away before it had chance to fall any further.

"Why so upset Shippo?" an aged voice spoke as Shippo looked up from her lap to see an old man sitting in front of her with eyes squinted in concern and from old age.

"Can you just tell me why this has happened to me? I-..I do-..don't really wa-want.to stay too l- long.." she uttered through short breaths, trying to regain composure of herself. The whole rather small incident with Ryo just combined with the rest of the mess she felt she was in, and Shippo's mind was spewing its frustration through her eyes.

"Ahh...alright...I see your distressed, so I'll make this brief for you," he rasped out as he moved closer to the emotional demoness and ran a hand through her the front of her long hair, "Your father did this."

Shippo's red eyebrows knitted together in confusion as a flash wave of exhaustion fell upon her like a ton of bricks and caused her to black out. _'My father?'_

* * *

**Cliffhanger yet again, I'm sorry I keep doing this! Why Shippo is Female WILL be explained in chapter 5. I Promise!!**

**Review and Feedback are needed from any and all of my readers, I'm being to think no one is that interested...**

**PS I have two art pictures of how I pictured Shippo and Ryo and they are on Deviant Art!!**

(Type in Shippo Female Facemaker and then hit the "Newest" button and it should appear and from there go to my gallery!)


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